Serving trays are used in most restaurants, bars and taverns. In many restaurant, bars and taverns there are few serving trays used by all servers and bartenders.
There are many problems with such serving trays. One problem is that when one server or bartender needs a serving tray to serve food or drinks, all the serving trays are being used by other servers and bartenders. Another problem is that the serving trays are large and cumbersome to use. Another problem is that the serving trays are expensive so an establishment will only purchase a few serving trays to be used by all servers and bartenders.
There have been attempts to solve some of the problems associated with serving trays.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,559,430, issued to D'Olimpio teaches “A collapsible serving tray that is stiff and flat when open and reduced in size and compact when folded. The tray is designed to be folded up into a compact size that is about one-quarter of the fully deployed size of the tray. One embodiment of the tray includes a perimeter edge that is ninety degrees to the flat serving surface when the tray is fully deployed.”
U.S. Pat. No. 7,542,910, issued to Kellough teaches “A food and drinks serving tray is created to include two separate areas for drinks and glassware. The separate areas are formed by an outer rim and inner rim which partially or fully prevents spillage on or off of the tray. The food and drinks serving tray includes a billfold drawer and a coin reservoir to collect and conceal a waitress' cash payment for the orders she takes. A handle can be added to the underside of the tray for easy tray handling. The food and drinks serving tray can be manufactured of different materials and have different shades of color. In addition, the food and drinks serving tray has a flat base surface which can be manufactured to come in different shapes such as a circle or rectangle.”
U.S. Pat. No. 8,904,943, issued to Jin teaches “A foldable table may include a table top and legs that are movable between an extended position and a collapsed position. The table top may include a first section and a second section that are connected by a hinge assembly. A locking member may be sized and configured to lock the hinge assembly in a fixed position. Advantageously, moving the legs between the extended and collapsed positions may cause the locking mechanism to move between the locked and unlocked positions. Thus, when the legs are in the extended position and the locking mechanism is in the locked position, the table top may be secured in the unfolded position.”
There have been some attempts to use folding tables as serving trays by removing the legs of the table.
However, such attempts have not worked well. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 9,504,314, issued to Leng teaches “Disclosed is a folding table including two table tops, a first and second support components and four table legs. The two table tops are joined at a folding line with a middle point. The support components support the table tops, each of which has a border and two connecting arms. The border is connected to an outer edge of the table tops. One end of the connecting arm is connected to the border, and the other end of the connecting arm has a hinge part. The hinge part of the connecting arm of the first support component joins that of the respective connecting arm of the second support component. One end of the table leg is hinged to the border. The other ends of the table legs meet at the middle point in the folded state.”
U.S. Pat. No. 9,380,863, issued to Sakanoue teaches “A folding table includes: a table body provided with a pair of hinge pins and a pair of lock pins, each of the pairs protruding oppositely in left-right direction; and a pair of left and right brackets having shaft holes in which the hinge pins are inserted and movable holes in which the lock pins are inserted. Spring members mounted in the movable holes press the lock pins. The table body is rotatably supported by the brackets affixed to a wall surface. The folding table has closing plates having through-holes respectively through which the hinge pins and the lock pins are penetrated. The closing plates are sandwiched between the table body and the brackets to close the movable holes.”
U.S. Design Pat. No. D601,853, issued to Tzilvelis teaches an “ornamental design for a foldable food serving tray, as shown and described” that includes two round portions folded on top of a single rectangular portion.
However, these solutions still do not solve all of the problems associated with serving trays. Thus, it is desirable to solve some of the problems associated with serving trays.